Day 51

  flat calm sea

  looking aft from the 'crows nest'

  mr penguin

  the ice shelf

  big crack!

Another good day of ice breaking, we got stopped a few times and had to ‘hammer’ the ice i.e. reverse and take a run up until it cracks then follow the crack. This evening we got into the shore lead which means we will be in open water for a few hundred miles.

This evening, I felt as if we had finally made it. We reached the iconic ice shelf, all is needed now is a few orcas.

Measuring the distance off the continent with the radar then comparing it to the chart shows a difference of four miles. The charted coastline is that of 1989 and of course the ice shifts so we record the coastline as we go to then send the data back to the hydrographic office. It’s the reverse of what a navigator would normally be doing!